Nintendo Land may be what sells the Wii U to families

Although The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess drew most of the hype during the launch of the Wii, it was Wii Sports that caught the imagination of the public and carried the system. The pack-in title with a few simple minigames showed off what Nintendo’s console and Wii remote could do, helping drive the initial adoption of the system.

With the Wii U, there is going to be a lot said of Pikmin 3 and New Super Mario Bros. U, but the game that could potentially sell families on the upcoming console is Nintendo Land. The game, planned for the system’s launch window, is exactly what it sounds like — a theme park starring Nintendo characters.

In Luigi’s Ghost Mansion, one player is the ghost and he’ll have to sneak up and grab Miis.

FOUR VS ONE: It features 12 different game worlds that revolve around the video game maker’s extensive roster of heroes. It will include old stalwarts such as Link, Donkey and Mario and some other fan favorites I suspect. Each realm of Nintendo Land will contain three to five attractions that players interact with. They can literally walk their Miis through the park to them.

The one I played was for five people and it was based on Luigi’s Mansion. Four players used Wii remotes to control their Miis through one floor of a house. Meanwhile, the player with the Wii U Gamepad is the ghost. The two sides battle each other in a game of wits as the spiritual entity stalks the hallways looking for ghost busters.

The map and its labyrinthine passageways reminds me of Pac-Man. The minigame and arcade classic have similarities in the way one side chases the other and vice versa. The big difference though is the Luigi’s Ghost Mansion minigame has a human element that makes each match more unpredictable.

When a Mii shines a light on a ghost, it can flee quickly away. But it can only take so many flashlight hits before it loses.

FUN WITH FRIENDS: I can see this being a fun ice-breaker-type game or something to play with the family. The players on the Wii remote have to work together to shine a flashlight on the ghost stalking them. It fosters more communication as the squad of four have to constantly watch each others’ backs and alert teammates when they feel the ghost’s presence nearby (They’ll know because the Wii remote vibrates.).

As for the ghost side, players use the Wii U Gamepad screen. It shows a different image from the big-screen, which keeps his position secret. That allows the ghost player to sneak up on his opponents without them knowing where he is. There’s a whole cat-and-mouse vibe as the ghost tries to avoid the natural light from flashing lightning and the beams from the four players.

The game gets interesting when one team member loses battery power or if the ghost manages to take a victim down. It sets off a wild panic as teammates try to revive partners using their flashlight power or set off alone trying to grab that battery power-up across the floor.

If more of the Nintendo Land games are like this, then I can see where Nintendo is trying to go with its Wii U system. It’s trying to build more bridges between players raised on the Wii and those with more expertise in conventional gaming through party-type games. It’s trying to be a console that forms bonds in the living room. But we’ll see if if consumers buy in to that concept later this year.